Saturday, April 13, 2013

Galapagos Part 1..................San Cristobal

So much has
been written about the geology and history of the Galapagos Archipelago, that I
will not repeat anything, save the few basic elements, which go to make it so
special.

The islands
were formed by the earth’s inner core, the magma, bursting out of a weak spot
in the earth’s crust near the equator, erupting as volcanoes. They are drifting away from the “hotspot” on
the western edge of the archipelago at a rate of 2.5cm per year! The oldest
islands lie on the east, and the youngest on the west. The plant and wildlife
found here originated in central south America, and is believed to have drifted
across on rafts of weed when mainland rivers flooded.

The extreme
difference in climate and topography here, has led to animal and plant life
adapting over millions of years, into the species now found here…. and quite
different from their ancestor’s left behind on the mainland.

Charles and his menagerie

Darwin first
landed on San Cristobal in 1835, aboard the Beagle, before visiting each of the
other islands. He made copious notes and records of species he found, but it
was not until 20 years later, that he first put forward his theory of
evolution, based upon his findings here.

The
confluence of 4 distinct currents, and in particular, the cold , nutrient rich
Humbolt current coming up from the south, and the warmer Panama current from
the north, make for a very rich sea life, and consequently, seabird life.

The
Galapagos, (which in Spanish means giant tortoise) was annexed by Ecuador in
1832, and is now run as a National Park. There are ongoing breeding programs
aimed at restoring the species and
population of Galapagos Giant Tortoises, after the almost total decimation
caused by seafarers of old using them as a source of fresh meat on board their
sailing vessels. At least 3 species of these giant tortoises are now extinct,
and when old “Lonesome George” died last year, at the age of about 175 yrs, the
number of surviving species dropped from 11 to the 10 that exist today!

It is appropriate that we started our travels in San Cristobal, where Darwin first landed, and have been able to see so many of the unique species that make it so incredible.

Fur seals,
which were also plundered for their fur,
are now the first species to make their presence known, firstly by the “Oh so
familiar pong”( from Hout Bay days), and then by their totally fearless taking
over of dinghy docks, park benches, bus shelters, catamaran sterns,
dinghies, mono hull sugar scoops,
bathing platform’s, steps, etc. They
also have such big friendly looking eyes, that people sometimes forget they are
still wild animals! Two yachting people have been bitten while we have been
here, probably tripping over them while not looking, or getting between mum and
pup!

San
Cristobal has the oldest, extinct volcano, the crater making up a 6000 square
meter fresh water lake. (Lake Juno) This is the reason why San Cristobal was
also the first island populated by man.

Lake Juno................fresh water lake

Endemic Miconia

The endemic
bush, Miconia, which covers much of the
highland areas, is now protected and being replanted by national Parks. This is because it absorbs its water
requirements from the air, and then takes it down to its root system, unlike
the invasive, water hungry exotic plants that have been introduced by man in
all his ignorance. Plants such as Blackberry, Guava trees, Lantana, are
spreading like wildfire, squeezing out the Miconia , becoming an ongoing
challenge to control.

We visited
the Giant Tortoise breeding centre, which has now released about 700 incubated
and hand raised individuals back into the wild. Each female only produces 8-12
eggs. These eggs are then kept in an incubator, where interestingly, the
temperature at which they are kept, determines the sex of the offspring.

At what temperature were you incubated?

Manzanilla/Machineel

No 1,
“Genesis”, was the first hatchling in the program, which was started in about
2002, and is kept at the centre. It was also surprising to learn, that the
staple diet of these tortoises is the Manzanilla apple, which is just the
Spanish name for the poisonous Machineel
tree which we were so careful to avoid in the Caribbean!

We had lunch
at a local restaurant, and then went down to the Puerto Chino beach, where we
had our first sight of the Blue Footed Boobies.
Quite apart from their very pretty feet, which play a major part in
their courting and mating games, the height from which they dive, and the
speeds they reach when they enter the water, are quite incredible.

On Tuesday we took a boat tour to Isla Lobos and the famous Kicker Rocks. We snorkeled with seal pups and watched a marine iguana feeding under water. At Kicker Rocks, I snorkeled, hoping to see Hammerhead sharks, but they were too deep (60ft), and the water not that clear. Nevertheless, I saw one Galapagos shark, and had a good sighting of a green turtle feeding on seaweed at the base of these enormously high rocks.

Kicker Rocks............snorkled the gap!

The gap between the Kickers

On our
return trip, we stopped at a remote beach, Manglesita, where we saw rocks
teaming with the distinctive “Sally Lightfoot” crabs, some marine Iguanas, and
had our first sighting of a male Great Frigate Bird, displaying his bright red
throat pouch, in the hope of attracting the attention of some passing female,
unable to resist his charms!

We had
earlier visited the “Interpretation Centre”, an educational facility for
scholars and tourists alike, where the geology, history, and impact of man, and
the steps for preservation are shared. A
little beyond this centre, along well laid out paved paths, we walked to the
bay where Darwin first landed. There we
saw the giant statue of Darwin, alongside bronze fur seals, iguana’s and tortoises.
If Darwin’s likeness was crafted as well as that of the Galapagos bronze
tortoise at his feet, then the statue can only be nothing like the man he was!

The main purpose of this walk was the hope
of seeing a full breeding colony of Frigate Birds, but they were not at home!

We took a
long walk/hike along the Loberia coastline. We came across a large colony of big
and small Marine Iguanas basking on the volcanic rocks, warming up after their sea
weed diving and feeding activities. Some of them were “spitting” the salt they
absorb while diving, from their nostrils, like dragons!

On the
return walk, we also spotted a Lava Heron.

Urchin spines make up a large portion of the beach aggregate

There is
absolutely no doubt, where Hollywood, and Spielberg in particular, have drawn
the inspiration for their weird and wonderful extraterrestrial creatures found
in their movies! A close up look at the Giant Tortoise heads, and the Marine
Iguana’s heads, says it all! “ET”, come Home!!!!! ( to Galapagos!!)